Incompatible With Life
by medicgirl
Summary: When Sam and Dean go undercover at a haunted ambulance service, all is not what it seems. What happens when the brothers end up on opposite sides of the battle?
1. Clear!

Disclaimer: I am not Eric Kripke, as you could probably tell from my writing. I do not own Supernatural, or anything else you might recognize.

Author's note: I have been a paramedic for going on 5 years. I assure you that all of the EMS stuff included herein really do happen, and have happened at a less than stellar ambulance service I used to work at. To avoid being sued by them, I will refrain from naming them, but don't think any of it is too far-fetched. It really does go on. Also, while I love writing multi-chapter fics, my heart is in my one-shots. Please check out "Breaking Point" and "Do No Harm", and review. Oh, and review this one too. I love reviews, and they're like oil... they keep the engine moving smoothly...

The bunkroom was deathy quiet at one in the morning, as Danni Miller slept soundly in her bed. The entire ambulance service was silent except for a small giggle outside her door that went unheard by the unsuspecting victim. A few more odd noises that she slept through, and then a shout broke through the night. "Danni! We got a full arrest in the parking lot! Hurry!"

The girl sat straight up in bed, stepped quickly into her boots, threw her cap over her unruly red hair, and burst out the door. Too quickly to be able to stop when she saw her partner standing in her doorway with the defibrillator, holding the paddles up. "Clear!" he shouted as Danni ran right into them.

She fell to the floor at the contact, certain she had been zapped with 360 joules of electricity, and was relieved to note that she was not only still alive but also not in pain from the jolt. She sighed with relief, even as tears filled her eyes. They were just messing with her. "You jerks!" She shouted, pulling herself to her feet.

Her partner, Darrell, and the another employee laughed. "Chill out, kid," Darrell said. "It was just a joke. You gotta learn to lighten up a little. There aren't even any batteries in this thing. Watch." With that, he turned the paddles to his own chest and pushed the buttons that would charge it. "Clear!" he called, grinning, and pushed the discharge buttons.

His joking grin changed to a look of horror in only a fraction of a second then to a grimace of pain as the sound of arching electricity filled the small hallway. The paddles fell from his hands as he collapsed to the floor. Darrell's cohort, Lisa, screamed. Danni looked at him in horror before dropping to her knees. No pulse. Eyes, wide as dinner plates, she looked up to her other co-worker, who's mask of terror and confusion mirrored her own. "Get Scott!" She said quietly. The older medic would know what to do. He was an amazing medic, and her only friend here. And the only one who might be able to make sense of the fact that her partner just accidentally killed himself.

"What happened?" The tall, dark-haired medic demanded, kneeling beside her. When she was unable to answer, he put his hand on her face and turned it to face him. "Danni, stay with me here. What happened to Darrell?"

The tears filling her eyes spilled over, and when she spoke it was more out of confusion and fear than rational thought. "There are no batteries in the monitor, Scott. It had no power…"

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Dude, I am not doing that!" Sam Winchester exclaimed to his big brother Dean.

"Why not?" Dean replied. "It's not like we've never pretended to be something we're not. "I mean, Homeland Security? This isn't anywhere near that cool."

Sam looked at the laptop screen in front of him with trepidation. A series of suspicious deaths surrounding an ambulance service seemed like one of their gigs, but what Dean was suggesting was insane. Not to mention dangerous. "Dean, impersonating Homeland Security wasn't risky to anyone but us. But impersonating EMTs? Actually on an ambulance? We'll actually have to do the job, which we know nothing about!"

Dean shrugged dismissively. "What's to know? We've been patching each other …and Dad… up since we were kids. We could practically run an ER if we wanted to." Sam still didn't look convinced. "Look, we're rookies, fresh out of class. No one is going to expect us to know what we're doing. They'll watch us carefully and probably even teach us a few things we can use later." He flashed the grin women found charming, but Sam recognized as his 'I-know-this-isn't-a-good-idea-but-it's-the-best-we-have' grin. "Come on. We already tried to get a ride-along as reporters. Which, in retrospect we should have known it was a bad idea with all the deaths surrounding the place… Of course they wouldn't trust reporters. On the other hand, with three employees dead, that leaves one door wide open."

Sam made a face. "New EMTs…"

Dean knew he had won, and popped a card out of his pocket. "You are now Sam Roberts, EMT 62682. And I am Dean Harrell, EMT 62680."

Sam looked at his new EMT card. It even had his picture on it. Not a bad forgery, he thought, even though he couldn't recall ever seeing an EMT card, and therefore didn't really know what it was supposed to look like. "Wait, Harrell and Roberts… I'm not putting that one together. You don't pick names at random, so where are those from?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Are you sure we're even related? Todd Harrell and Matt Roberts?" Sam continued to stare at him blankly. Dean shook his head. "Dude… 3 Doors down? "Kryptonite"? "Love Me When I'm Gone"? "It's Not My Time"? The frickin' Geico song with the caveman?" That seemed to click something in Sam's mind, and he gave Dean a weird look. "What? Not all of my music is older than you!" To prove his point, he reached into his box of cassettes and rummaged around until he found the band's first tape.

Sam grinned. He had to admit, they weren't bad. "Okay, so what are you thinking? Curse on one of the ambulances? I mean, a lot of people die in them, right? Maybe someone isn't happy about it?"

Dean shrugged. "Jury's still out. Could be a pissed of spirit, or it could be demonic. You want to wreak havoc, attack the people you call in an emergency… Or maybe even just a series of freaky coincidence…"

Sam looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Dude! How many times has it _ever_ been some freaky coincidence?"

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Sam and Dean sat side by side in the office of LCT Ambulance, Inc. They had been waiting for about ten minutes while the director, a woman who had introduced herself as Stephanie, fielded one phone call after another. She was trying to talk to them, but the phone just wouldn't stop ringing.

"Yes, I understand that this appointment has been scheduled for 3weeks, but there is nothing I can do! I'm down three workers, four 911 calls came in back to back!" She was silent for a moment, then said "Well, I'm sorry. I simply can't pull another crew out of my ass! When I have someone, I'll send them." Another pause, and she made a face. "And a very nice day to you too." She slammed the phone down and muttered "Bitch…"

Then she turned back to Sam and Dean. "Sorry about that. Can I help you boys?"

"Ummm…" Sam began, not at all sure he wanted to even be in this mess.

"Sounds like you've got a little staffing problem going on…" said Dean, giving the woman his most charming smile. "We're here to help."

Stephanie's face lit up. "You're EMTs?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Dean replied. "Dean Harrel, and this is Sam Roberts. Fresh out of class, looking for a job. And it looks like we came to the right place."

Stephanie nodded. "That you did. We need help pretty bad. You two in Marc's last class?"

Sam started to nod, but Dean cut him off verbally. "No. We went through a class up north, just moved down here, right Sam?" Sam nodded, and mentally smacked himself for his mistake. She obviously knew Marc, and could check their story too easily. That he would make such a stupid mistake showed how nervous this made him.

"Okay," She said. "When can you start?"

Dean made a show of looking at Sam for a consensus, then turned back to Stephanie. "Sounds like you need help right now."

She smiled. "I'll get you boys some uniforms."


	2. EMTs

Disclaimer: See chapter one. In fact, see chapter one for all further disclaimers.

A/N: Welcome to chapter 2. I have a four day shift at work coming up, so there may be more chapters this week. But only if I get a bunch of reviews. So, please? Please? *makes Sam's puppy-dog eyes* Please?

"The boys in the movies never make these things look this good," Dean said, adjusting the collar of his new EMS jumpsuit in the mirror of the locker room. He grinned as he watched Sam having considerably more trouble with his.

"I don't know, "Sam replied. "Wasn't Jason wearing that in the last Friday the 13th sequel? He might give you a run for your money."

Dean suppressed a burst of laughter into a small snort as Sam tried in vain to pull his uniform into a comfortable position, and failed as the top zipper came loose. Sam made a face that started out as a glare at Dean but quickly turned into a wince of pain as he zipped the jumpsuit again. "Laugh it up, Dean. At least yours isn't trying to castrate you!"

In a moment of compassion (the too-short jumpsuit _did_ look painful on his overly tall younger brother), Dean went to help him extricate himself. "Come on, take this off. We'll go see if they have one in Sasquatch size."

Ten minutes later, Dean was still in the jumpsuit and Sam was in BDU pants and an EMS t-shirt, and they were ready for action. Stephanie had shrugged apologetically when she told Sam she'd order one in his size and for a terrifying moment he thought he was going to have to function in the medieval torture device. It must have been clear on his face what he was thinking, because she smirked at him in an expression that mirrored Dean's 'this would be so much fun to mess with him on, but it's just too cruel" look and went to the back and returned with a more suitable outfit of army-style pants and a t-shirt with a star of life on the front and EMS on the back in bold blue letters. Yellow wasn't exactly Sam's color, but at this point as long as it didn't put anything important in danger of losing blood flow, he was glad to have it.

"Okay, boys," She said to her two newest employees. "You guys wanted the overnight shifts, so you will each be driving one of our paramedics. Dean, you will be Scott's partner, and…" She paused, shooting Sam yet another sympathetic look, "…Sam, I swear I don't hate you or anything, but I guess you'll have to work with Danni."

"Why do you say it like that?" He asked warily. This was a tiny little town in the middle of the woods… was Danny a 400 pound redneck who never showered? He turned to meet Dean's eyes with a little fear showing. Dean grinned a little, trying to reassure his brother than there would be no "I'm gonna make you squeal like a pig" stuff, not on his watch.

Stephanie shrugged. "I guess she's not so bad. Just a little weird. She's not exactly social, would rather keep her nose in a book than actually talk to one of us mere mortals, and she gets upset when anyone tries to include her in anything. She thinks she's better than the rest of us." She didn't notice Sam's sigh of relief and Dean's shoulders relax at her pronoun usage. "And I guess she's a little messed up because the last person we lost was her partner. They weren't close or anything, but it seems to have screwed with her brain some. She keeps insisting that there were no batteries in the defibrillator, and that this place is haunted or something. Scott says she was in shock. But then, Scott's the only one here who can stand her, so he might be a bit more generous than necessary. I say she's just off her rocker."

Sam looked at her. "She just watched a man die in front of her. Doesn't that entitle her to a little shock?"

Stephanie looked at him for a moment. "Thinking like that, you're not gonna last long in this job. And if you're lucky, it won't cost someone else their life. Like your partner."

Dean nudged him with his shoulder, and Sam turned to meet his eyes. As Stephanie headed out the door, motioning for them to follow, Dean leaned over and whispered, "I know, Dude… She reminds me of Dad, too."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Sam wondered down the hallway to the last bunkroom on the right. Dean had been summarily deposited with Scott, a slender man with spiky dark hair who was almost as tall as Sam, and a few years older than Dean. Sam fought the urge to ask him if his jumpsuit had put his masculinity in danger to begin with as well, then decided to leave that to Dean. He knew he would. Scott was giving Dean the tour, and Sam had been told to go find Danni for the same. And having less concern about knowing his way around the station than solving the case and getting out of here before he needed to know anything about it, he figured on asking more questions about the supposed haunting than the medical equipment… except maybe a defibrillator. That would be kinda important to know.

A petite, slender girl with short red hair sat on a twin bed with her knees up to her chest. A small hardback book was balanced on her knees, and her attention was focused solely on it. For a moment, Sam was unsure of how to get her attention. Then he saw the title of the book. _Perlandra_, by C.S. Lewis. Ok, this might be easier than he had thought. Clearing his throat, he said, "Excellent book. Have you gotten to the part where he figures out why he's there?"

The girl looked up at him, startled, then quickly recovered. "Yeah. Nice take on the Garden of Eden. You read this?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I read the whole trilogy in tenth grade. That one was my favorite though. The amount of trust it took for him to just go, not knowing where or what or how he would get back… quite a leap of faith. I'm Sam, by the way."

She looked at him for a moment, processing his answer. "Danni," she said finally. "I assume you're my new partner. I was wondering who would draw the short straw, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that they had to hire someone new just to work with me. So, did the Queen Bee apologize for sticking you with me, or just give you that sadistic grin and throw you to the wolves?"

Sam smiled a little. "You mean Stephanie? Both, actually."

"So? You think you can make it through the day without threatening to quit if you don't get a new partner?" She was actually grinning for the first time since Sam walked in. He grinned back in response.

"I'm pretty tough," he said. "I think I can take it. In fact, I've known you for three minutes, and I already like you better than Stephanie."

"Then you're either a masochist, or way too intelligent to last long here."

Sam shook his head. "Why does no one think I'll make it here?"

She motioned for him to come sit down, and he was about to comply when there was a high-pitched noise coming from the radio on her desk, followed by a staticky voice that Sam couldn't quite understand. It sounded a little like EVP, but he wasn't sure. It could just be bad reception, and he made a note to ask Dean later if he heard it.

Danni jumped up. "Well, I guess we're about to find out. Car wreck. Sounds like a bad one. Come on, that's us." Grabbing her cap, she passed him and hurried down the hall.


	3. Enroute

A/N: Sorry this one is a little shorter. Getting inside their heads took more than I expected, so I decided to make this a chapter all its own. Hope I didn't make Sam seem too weak, but it seems to me like people getting hurt and dying and it being outside his realm of expertise would be particularly stressful on him. I hope to have more tomorrow but as usual, pease review. Let me know I'm doing ok here? Please?

Sam's heart pounded with fear and his stomach churched. This was exactly what he was afraid of! He knew he was going to have to do something like this, give important medical care to someone possibly dying and he didn't know what to do and he was _so_ going to kick Dean's ass for this! If Dean was lucky. If not… Thoughts involving everything from switchblades to chainsaws crossed his mind. He knew somewhere that fear was winning if he was thinking about taking his brother apart with power tools, but in this case, and maybe for the first time, Sam Winchester felt justified in being scared.

He could face down whatever hellbeast that came at them with a set jaw and a rock-solid stomach, but the idea of going to this car crash had him ready to puke. This was different. He couldn't shoot anything, douse something with holy water, or set anything on fire to help these people, and that scared the living hell out of him. This was way outside his level of expertise. He was going to kick Dean's ass… if Dean was lucky…

Hoping he didn't look as green as he felt, he stumbled after Danni. The ambulances were parked in a huge garage, and from the other side, he saw his brother and Scott hurrying toward their own truck. He hurried to them. "Dean!" he called. As his brother met him in the middle, he lost all thoughts of wanting to do him violence (well, most of them), and said urgently "Dean, we don't know what we're doing!"

"Calm down," Dean demanded, not unkindly. He glanced around to see Scott walking over to check on them, so he had to respond in code. "We're rookies. They don't expect us to know exactly what we're doing yet. They'll help us. It'll be fine."

Sam nodded, hearing what Dean wasn't saying, couldn't say in front of Scott. _I'm sorry, but it's part of the job. Be tough, little brother, we got this._ He drew in a deep breath, and hoped he didn't get in the way too much. Letting it out, he wished they didn't always flee the scene when the ambulances show up. Maybe if they had watched even a few times, he might know what to do. "Ok. You're going too?"

Dean nodded. "Scott said-" he cut off with a wince, unsure about whether or not to continue. "Scott said it sounded bad and we needed to roll both trucks. I'm not sure what 10-7 means, but Scott didn't seem to like it much."

Sam straightened his shoulders. It wasn't much, and Dean had no better idea what he was doing than Sam did, but just the idea that he wouldn't be doing this alone made him feel better. Before he could thank him, an air horn sounded. He turned to see Danni in the ambulance. "Come on!" She exclaimed. "You can finish you pep talk later, now we've got work to do!"

Sam nodded sharply, kicking himself back into gear before jogging to the passenger side of the ambulance, and Dean hoped Sam didn't realize the girl had just quoted Sam's own words that night at Stanford.

As Dean got in his ambulance, Scott said "Your friend alright gonna be alright?"

Den shrugged, and saw no reason not to tell a little truth. If Sam freaked out, it might be good to have a reason why, rather than that he just wasn't cut out for dealing with human suffering. Which he wasn't, and for a moment he felt a pang of guilt for dragging Sam into this. Sam should have been doing his geek-boy-research thing while Dean checked out the ambulance service. Too late now. "He's my brother. And we were in a bad car wreck not long ago. We barely survived."

"Your brother? But I thought you had different last names?"

Dammit. Ok, that was the problem with telling the truth. It got you tangled up in the lies you already told. "Half-brothers. We had different fathers. And the car wreck three months ago killed his father. And nearly killed me. I was in a coma and he thought he was going to lose us both. It was rough on him." He paused, and put on what he hoped was a suitably worried expression. "I don't know how he's going to handle this scene. He'll probably forget everything he knows…" He shook his head. "Why did his first run have to be a car wreck?"

"Hey," said Scott, suddenly worried for his new co-workers. "It'll be fine. I'll help him, and Danni is a good medic and not the kind of jerk everyone thinks she is. She'll look out for him. And if things go south, Danni and I will take care of the scene, you help him. He have panic attacks and stuff?"

Dean turned his head toward the window and grinned a little. "Not that you'd ever see."

"You gonna freak out on me?" Danni asked calmly, as if the answer didn't really matter to her, she was just trying to plan her day.

Her bluntness surprised him. "Uh… I don't think so. Should I?"

"Well, this is your first run, right? Like, ever?"

He looked at her, still surprised. "Is it that obvious?"

She shrugged. "I can tell things sometimes. But yeah, you've got 'rookie' written all over you. But it's okay. Just a few things to remember. Gotta learn the rules, you know."

"Rules?" If there were clearly set rules to this, maybe he could do it.

"Number one: The first heart you check is your own. If it's still beating, then you deal with the patient. Number two: Air goes in and out, blood goes 'round and 'round. Any variation of that is a bad thing. Number three: Don't puke on the patient. And number four, the most important: If you see something you can't deal with, either medically or psychologically, _get help_. I'm there, Scott's going to be there, and your friend's going to be there. You're not doing this on your own."

Sam actually smiled at that. The girl was pretty perceptive. And if he expected her to be honest with him, he would have to be a little honest with her. Dean was going to be pissed, but he'd deal. "Actually, he's my brother."


	4. Body count

A/N: This chapter goes out to my crew, Cliff and Pete and Bear and Cecil and everyone here at Clay county. They're the most awesome EMS crew in the world and even Sam and Dean couldn't do what we are able to pull together. Although it's a good parallel... Anyone care to guess how often the first thought in my mind is "Oh, crap... that can't be good..." Anyway, please read and review. I can't get better at this or even keep up what you think is good without feedback.

The scene was like something out of a movie, with twisted metal and flashing red lights. And smoke. Something had been on fire, but there was no tell-tale smell of burned flesh, so that was at least something. Two cars and what Sam assumed was a truck were in a twisted pile in the center of the intersection, and for one of the first times in his life he had no idea what to do. He stood for a moment at the front of the ambulance, waiting for some clue as to what was expected of him, and he got it when Danni thrust a bright orange bag into his hand and said "Come on."

He followed her over to the nearest vehicle, what looked like it had once been a red Cavalier, and looked inside. He instantly wished he hadn't. A young woman was in the driver's seat, with a large piece of metal embedded in her chest. She wasn't moving, and after a second Sam realized that included the fact that her chest wasn't rising either. Maybe it couldn't…_ probably_ that it couldn't, with the piece of metal going through her. "Uh, Danni…?" There were a million questions he wanted to ask, from "What do I do?" to "How do we get that out of her?" to the more important "Shouldn't we do something, quick?" but suddenly his mouth wouldn't work.

Danni winced and shook her head. "Nothing we can do. A wound like that… It's what we call "incompatible with life". Best trauma surgeon in the world couldn't save her if he was right here with his fully stocked OR. Come on. There's other people we can help."

Sam nodded numbly and followed, still instinctively clutching the orange bag. They went towards the truck. , but Scott and Dean intercepted them. "Don't go over there," Scott said, stopping Danni with a hand on her shoulder. Dean stared at Sam grimly. Whatever, whoever, was in that truck was bad. And apparently 'incompatible with life'.

"But-" Danni started to tell Scott that she was a paramedic and she could handle it, but he stopped her.

"No buts, D. I wish I hadn't seen that, I certainly wish Dean hadn't, but there's no need for all of us to have to. Just steer clear, I got this one." Danni smiled at him gratefully, and Dean recognized the expression. He had seen it on Sam's face a few times, when Dean had rescued him from something hideous.

Turning to Sam, he said "How you holding up, little brother?" Before Sam's eyes could widen, he continued. "I told Scott about the car wreck, and your dad getting killed. I hope you don't mind, I just wanted to prepare him in case it got to you."

Sam nodded, putting together the pieces Dean gave him so he could keep up continuity. He had told Scott they were brothers, and since they had different last names, it would have to be half brothers. Different fathers. Ok… on the same page now. He nodded. "That's okay. And I'm… well, kinda holding together." It was as close to the truth as he could get. He didn't want to say out loud that he was he had never felt so helpless in his life. They saw things every day that defied most people's ideas of logic, but this wasn't some poltergeist or banshee and probably not even a Woman in White that killed these people. This was simple human error or mechanical failure or the wet roads from the earlier rains or something as simple and stupid as that. There was no way to fight that, or prevent it. Coming from the kid who defended himself from a monster in his closet with a .45 at nine years old, saying this was scary stuff meant something. And he really wished Dean hadn't brought up Dad…

Before he could lose it completely, the three of them heard Danni shout, "Come on, boys! We've got a survivor!"

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

After the two EMS crews and the hospital staff were finished, the final score was Death 3, medical guys 1. It had been a bloody, exhausting mess, and all four of them needed a shower. Badly. However, Danni, being the smallest of them and therefore the only one able to climb into the crumpled car beside one of the two victims they had worked and extricate him from the disaster, had gotten the worst of it and was unanimously granted the first shower. Scott went to restock the truck, leaving Sam and Dean alone in the living room for the first time all day.

Peeling himself out of the bloody jumpsuit, Dean flopped bonelessly on the couch. His head flopped back against the back, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself looking up at Sam. Lacking a jumpsuit to strip off, Sam was kinda stuck in his uniform until he could clean up. So he was staying clear of the furniture. Dean grinned. "Uh, I guess you can have the next shower."

Sam nodded, and couldn't help the smile forming. This seemed way too normal to him, and he stopped that train of though before he could examine just how unhealthy it was. "That was a mess," he said finally. Dean looked up at him, unsure where he was going with it (and possibly too exhausted to move). "Three people dead, just like that. Well, two, and the one that died in the ER. Pretty violent deaths…"

"What are you thinking, Sammy?" Dean wasn't sure if this was going to be hunting related or a friggin' Oprah moment, so he stayed in neutral for the moment.

"How many of those do you think they have a week? A month? Since the place opened? Could be literally thousands of spirits here! How are we going to know what's causing problems?"

Okay, this was a conversation Dean could deal with. "Can't salt and burn thousands of bodies… Don't have that kind of time. And at the moment, not even sure I could handle a shovel. Dude, I like to think I'm in good shape, but my arms feel like Jell-o!"

"That happens," Scott said, coming back into the room, startling them both. "There are muscles you use for CPR that you don't use for anything else. You'll feel it in your shoulders and ribs in the morning. Good work, though, both of you."

"Uh…" Said Sam, deer-in-the-headlights look turned to Dean. "How much did you hear?"

Scott was already out of his jumpsuit, so he picked up Dean's and headed out of the room. "Just something about a shovel, figured you boys were landscaping or something. I'd hold off on it a day or two if I were you. You're gonna hurt tomorrow. I'll throw these in the laundry. Sam, when you get your shower, we'll wash all the uniforms together. You got something to change into?"

Sam nodded mutely, breathing a sigh of relief when he disappeared down the hall. "We have got to be more careful!" He hissed at Dean, who nodded then closed his eyes again. Then sat back up, fully alert when they heard Danni shriek from the locker room.


	5. Cruel Jokes

Author's note: Yes, some pretty crappy things happening here. No, none of them are out of the realm of possibility for a bunch of pissed of EMTs. Also, I know it has been said that human beings can't smell blood. Whoever supposedly proved that is completely and utterly full of crap. And has never set foot in an ambulance. Anyway, please review. Thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter, letting me know people are reading makes me want to write more... no one wants to write something no one wants to read...

Scott met Sam and Dean at the locker room door. One swift kick from Dean and the door was no longer an issue. They raced over to where Danni stood by her locker, shaking, wearing nothing but a towel. She was shaking, and Sam pushed his way past Scott to her side. Following her gaze, he looked inside her locker. A dead animal, what had most likely once been a cat, lay on the shelf, on top of the neatly folded stack of uniforms. It had obviously been dead a while, and the smell was enough to knock all four of them back.

Sam looked at Dean, their eyes meeting in silent communication._ You know of anything like this? _Dean shrugged. _Nope… This is a new one._

"Danni, I'm getting ready to do laundry anyway, so I'll wash them. I have an extra set of sweats in my locker, they'll be huge on you, but it won't take long to get these clean." Scott's voice was calm and soothing, and not at all alarmed, as if this (or something very much like it) had happened before. He hurried to the locker three down from hers and rapidly extracted the promised sweats. They would swallow the slight girl whole, as he said, but they didn't seem to have many options. She took them and fled the locker room with little more than a mumbled "Thanks."

Scott's face tightened in anger as he removed the dead creature with a garbage bag. Putting the bag over his hand, he picked up the carcass, pulled the bag back around it, and tied it quickly. "Dean, you care to take this outside and put it in the dumpster? I'll get on the laundry." He wrinkled his nose at the still-lingering smell in the locker room. "And find some Lysol while I'm at it."

Dean nodded and took the bag. Tilting his head casually, he motioned for Sam to follow him. When they were alone, Sam reiterated his earlier thought. "You ever encountered anything like this?"

Shaking his head, Dean considered. "I don't think so. Unless it was her cat… was it her cat? 'Cause I've seen a spirit or two kill beloved pets to torment people. Or maybe poltergeists to cause chaos."

"Didn't look like something like that. It looked like roadkill. I mean, usually a kill like that would still be recognizable. I'm not even a hundred percent sure that was a cat. Witchcraft, maybe? Someone's put a hex on this place?"

Dean winced. "I hate witches! And if that's what's going on here, it's not going to be any easier to figure out than a spirit. There might be hundreds of violent deaths associated with an ambulance service, but how many grieving relatives have those left behind?" He paused before adding, "How many _pissed off_ grieving relatives?"

Sam nodded. "A definite possibility. But that's the problem… we've got too many possibilities right now. We need to start narrowing things down."

"You go talk to Danni, I'll talk to Scott. Tonight when they're asleep, I'll take EMF duty, you look for sulfur. We'll meet and go over the defibrillator together."

Sam nodded, and turned back toward the bunkrooms. Dean proceeded to remove the dead thing in the bag.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Sam knocked lightly on the door to the last bunkroom on the right. When there was no answer, he called out "Danni?" When she still didn't answer, he tried again. "Danni, are you dressed? I just want to talk to you."

"Go away!" Came the muffled reply, like she had her face buried in a pillow.

Sam figured the worst she would do was throw the pillow at him, so he tried the knob. It slid open easily. "Danni, I just want to talk to you."

She did throw the pillow at him, and he didn't even duck. It caught him full in the face. He smiled and threw it back at her gently. "Feel better?" She shook her head and flopped over. "I should be used to it by now, but it still gets to me."

Sam frowned. "So this has happened before?"

She gave him a cynical half-grin. "Nope, this one is a new one. But it's usually something though. Last time my clothes were missing completely. Before that, there were two snakes in my bed when I woke up."

"Snakes?" Sam asked, his mind running through possibilities. That was a little more specific, it might narrow things down a little.

She shrugged, looking away. "I'm kinda scared of snakes, and…" She wiped furiously at the stray tears running down her face. "I don't even know what I did wrong, ya know? Why me?"

Sam's heart twisted at that. The victims of haunting always got to him. "There's not always a real reason. Sometimes bad things just happen. It's not necessarily anything you've done. But we can help you. My brother and I, this is kinda what we do."

She sniffed and looked at him for a minute. "You think you can help me? How?"

Sam shrugged. "It depends on what's causing all of this. When we figure it out, we can fix it."

She looked at him for a moment, as if trying to decide whether to tell him or not. "Well, I guess it all started with the hooker Darrell picked up…"

Ok, now they were getting somewhere! "Great! Do you know her name? Or where she was buried?"

She jerked away. Looking at him like he had lost his mind. "_Buried?_ What the hell are you talking about?"

Sam's eyes widened. Oh, crap… "Uh… what are you talking about?"

She scooted closer to the wall. "I was talking about my co-workers picking on me!" She was still staring at him like he was insane or dangerous or both. "Dude, I don't know what you do with hookers, but even these guys aren't that messed up!"

Sam closed his eyes, a little shaken by his own stupidity. Oh well. She already thought he was an axe murderer. What did he have to lose by telling her the truth?

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Almost an hour later, Danni knew the whole story. Somehow, the idea that Sam and Dean fought ghosts and stuff made her feel better than thinking he was some lunatic who murdered hookers. And he knew that the other employees besides Scott gave her a majorly hard time because Darrell had picked up a hooker one night when Danni first started and Stephanie had suddenly shown up for a surprise inspection. Danni had nothing to do with it, but as she was the new girl it was assumed that she had called and ratted them out.

He also learned that the weird stuff had started happening soon thereafter, stuff being moved around, trucks being stripped as soon as crews got finished checking them off, things like that. At first, Danni had been accused. It was figured that it was in retaliation for the increasingly cruel tricks on her, and Stephanie had pulled her into the office for a long lecture about how even if they were going to have a prank war, there were limits and messing with the equipment was strictly off-limits. But that was the end of that because while she was in there, all the monitors and drug bags went missing except hers.

It wasn't until the pranks against her began to escalate that things had taken a more violent turn. The first death had occurred the morning after Danni had woken up o find snakes in her bed. They had belonged to Shawn Owens, the Paramedic who had been killed the next day. He had been on the second floor storage area in the ambulance bay when the railing gave way and he fell head-first onto the concrete. The next one had been almost two weeks later when Jason Creech had taken bloody trash after a car wreck and smeared it all over the back of her ambulance. He had left all the biohazard garbage in the floor, plus two used needles. Danni had almost gotten fired for that. If Scott hadn't seen Jason sneaking out of the back of the truck, she probably would have been. Jason's brakes failed on the way home that night. And then what happened to Darrell had come the night after he had peed in Danni's water bottle. Thankfully, she had noticed it was off-color before she took a drink. Sam kinda had to wonder if maybe these jerks didn't have it coming…

After laying out the whole story, and confiding to Sam that she knew something was seriously wrong here, and she was glad he was there, she asked if he was going to sleep in there with her. He stuttered for a moment before she rolled her eyes, pointed to the other bed, and said that usually partners shard a room but since most of them didn't like her, her partner usually slept on the couch. Then she informed him that he should go take a shower because he smelled like blood.

He ran into Dean on his way to the locker room. "Dude, we gotta talk! There's more problems here than we thought."

"You're telling me!" Dean exclaimed. "I've been talking to Scott for the past hour, and I think I've got it figured out. You ever see the movie _**Carrie**__?"_


	6. Choosing Sides

Author's note: Hope you guys like the way this went... I wasn't sure whether to go this route or not, but it was too much fun to pass up. Please review and let me know what you think. I am leaving on vacation tomorrow (a road trip with my brother... maybe we'll even find some demons or something...) so it may be a week or so before my next update. Or it may inspire me even more. So we'll have to see. Enjoy!

Sam rolled his eyes. "You think the girl they're picking on is getting some Stephen King style telekinetic revenge? Dean, even for us, that's a little nuts."

Dean gave him a look. "No, seriously. I mean, maybe not 'burn the school down with her mind' stuff, but what if she's summoned something or cursed something? Think about it… These guys are mean to her, then they end up dead. Sound suspicious to you?"

After only a moment's thought, Sam shook his head. "No way, man. She's not behind this. She's scared out of her mind, and when I told her the truth she was so relieved that-"

"When you what? Sam, what do you mean you told her the truth?"

Sam winced. Yeah, he had known Dean was going to be pissed at him. "Well, I stumbled a little. She said it all started when Darrell picked up a hooker. Like an idiot, I assumed she meant in an ambulance. Dying. I thought that might be our spirit, so I asked where she was buried. The kid kinda freaked out, like she thought I was some kind of nut or something-"

"So you decided to confirm it by telling her we hunt monsters and are here to stop whatever her little act is? Jeez, Sam! You know better! Now that she knows we're onto her, things just got worse!"

Sam's jaw tightened at this. Not many would believe that Dean Winchester had a melodramatic streak in him, but he could be such a bitchy little girl when things didn't go his way. "Nothing's going to get worse and we're not onto her because it's not her!" He rolled his eyes and put a hand to his forehead. "Look, I know I screwed up, but I was doing what I could to comfort a scared victim."

"You know, Sam, your soft spot for damsels in distress is going to get you killed some day. Or me." Sam flinched, and Dean knew that was a low blow, but this wasn't at all like his brother. "Look, since you brought the girl into the loop, it is officially your responsibility to keep an eye on her. Scott said that Stephanie will probably want us all to work again tomorrow, so we'll be here all day. Maybe we can get a grip on this thing quickly." His expression softened marginally. "I know you hate this, but the quicker we solve this thing and kill whatever is responsible, the quicker we can go back to avoiding ambulances rather than driving them."

Sam managed a weak grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're right. We need to wrap this up as quick as we can. But you're wrong about Danni."

Dean studied his brother's face for a moment. Right or wrong, Sam sincerely believed it. "Okay. I'll not focus solely on her. But that's the best I can do. I'm not writing off the obvious suspect because Sammy's got a little crush." Sam made a face and opened his mouth to deny it, but Dean cut him off. "Yeah, well, whatever. Got try to get some sleep. But…" He trailed off, unable to finish.

"What?" Sam asked.

Dean made a face, hating what he was about to say. "Dude… be careful. I've got a bad feeling about this."

Sam actually did grin at that. "Isn't that usually my line?"

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Danni was already asleep when Sam dropped a pillow and blanket on the bed against the far wall, and so he dozed off almost immediately. It was less than an hour later when he awoke to her sitting bolt-upright in the bed, gasping for breath. "Danni?" He scrambled to his feet as her breathing became more and more ragged instead of getting better. "What's wrong? Are you okay? What can I do?"

Drawing in a breath with a high-pitched noise, she said "Asthma." Another shuddering wheeze. "Inhaler." Another. "Jacket."

The fog of sleep lifted a little. Asthma, inhaler, jacket… Oh. She needed her inhaler from her jacket pocket! He grabbed the navy blue jacket off the chair and reached into one pocket. Nothing. The other had the same result. "Where?" he asked.

Another wheezing breath, more ragged and pained this time. "Inside."

Finally, he located the pocket hidden in the fleece lining and pulled out a Combi-Vent inhaler. When he tried to hand it to her, shaking hands fumbled with it for a moment before he took it back and helped her. Being so used to taking care of Dean when he was sick, Sam sort of expected her to smack his hands away, but she was too weak to fight him and anyway, she seemed to welcome the help.

After a few moments, the pained gasping began to ease, and Sam was finally able to draw in a full breath himself. "You gonna be okay? Need something else? Hey, should I go get Scott? He probably knows what to-"

A shaky laugh cut him off. "I'm breathing again, Sam, but you gotta breathe too. Calm down, I've had asthma attacks since I was fourteen, I'll live. I usually do." He couldn't help but grin at that, even though it was a pretty weak joke.

"Sorry. I just… don't usually deal with stuff like that." Well, that would have been a stupid thing to say if she didn't know the truth. He was supposed to be an EMT. "I…uh… kinda suck at this."

Danni shook her head in amusement. "Yep. But it's okay, I won't let you make a mess of things."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

They had a run at 4:30 in the morning, a simple nausea complaint that Danni handled with professional ease while Sam cringed and struggled very hard not to vomit in sympathy with the retching noises from the back. Oh, yeah, he'd be glad when this case was over. It was almost six before they got back, so Danni turned off the alarm. Sam didn't question it… if they were working that day as well and it was allowed, sleeping in sounded pretty good.

Four hours later, he woke instantly to noises outside the door. The hunter in him was wide awake, and he reached for the knife under his pillow. Drawing it, he slipped silently to the door, and in one smooth motion, yanked it open, keeping himself well clear of any supernatural threats. What he saw though, was not exactly what he expected. Three EMTs standing there with Super Soaker water guns. And one of them... "Dean?"

Dean lowered the water gun, as did his cohorts. He at least had the decency to look guilty when he said "Sammy? I…uh… didn't know you were sleeping in there…"


	7. Dean's Plan

A/N: Back from my road trip, had an awesome time. Sorry I couldn't update, no internet. Enjoy and please review:)

Sam stared his brother down, the last traces of sleep fading from his consciousness. "Dean, what the Hell are you doing?" The other two EMTs, a small guy with military-cut brown hair and a tall girl with long blond hair. One look at the giant –and pissed- new co-worker, and they quickly made themselves scarce, leaving Dean to explain things to his brother. They were certainly not expecting him to be in there, and the idea of what would have happened if he hadn't been enraged him.

He grabbed Dean by the arm and dragged him out the back door, water gun still in hand. Sam was still barefoot and the gravel of the back parking lot bit painfully into his feet, but he was too angry to care. "Dean, I asked what the Hell you were doing. Although it seems fairly self-evident, I'm hoping for a logical explanation."

Dean dropped his eyes. He actually had a logical explanation, a plan even. But Sam wasn't going to like it. Scratch that… Sam wouldn't like what it seemed like he was doing. Sam was gonna go freakin' postal when he heard Dean's plan. "Um… It's not what it looks like?" His sasquatch of a brother lived up to the nickname by growling –actually growling at Dean- so he figured he should start from the beginning. "Okay, look… You're not going to like this I know, but hear me out…"

"I'm listening…" Sam said, although his voice suggested otherwise.

"Well, uh…" Dean winced. He was never one to look for the best words, so it was best if he just spit it out. "This thing just attacks when the girl's pissed, right? So, the quickest way to see what's going on is to piss her off. See for ourselves what she's- what's happening."

Sam face was already tightening in anger, more so than it had been. "Are you completely insane?" Sam asked in a completely level voice, which was kinda scary with the amount of anger in his eyes. "I mean, seriously unhinged? Forget what the hell are you doing, I guess the question of the day is what the Hell were you thinking?" Sam shook his head. "Not that there aren't a million problems with that plan, but did you happen to forget what happened to the last people who pissed her off?"

Dean shrugged. "I still think it's her. And you were watching her, and if she tried to do anything you'd stop her."

Sam rolled his eyes. "And if it's not her?"

"Then I'd stop whatever else it might be."

Sam wished he had a better response than rolling his eyes. This idiocy really called for it. "Dean, this is idiotic. We have no idea what we're up against, let alone how to fight it, or what or who is behind it. Provoking it at this point is just stupid."

Dean grinned. He was going to win this one. "Not true, Sammy. We have different opinions as to what it is, but we have two very clear thoughts. I suspect your girl's a witch, partly because your taste in women recently just suggests there's something wring with her… kidding!" He added when Sam smacked him in the head, just a little harder than playfully. "And you suspect a…"

"Vengeful spirit. Danni is simply a coincidence, or maybe the spirit feels sorry for her. Or maybe the same people who are picking on her are the ones who pissed off the spirit to begin with."

"Okay, one vote for a witch, one for a vengeful spirit. Either way, we know how to deal with it."

Sam gritted his teeth. He didn't like this. He didn't like Dean messing with this already tormented kid, and he certainly didn't like Dean baiting whatever was killing people. "It's not going to do me any good to ask you to come up with a better plan, is it?"

One side of Dean's mouth drew up in a weak smile. "If there was a better plan, you would be telling me rather than asking me."

Sam didn't like this. In fact, he completely shared Dean's bad feeling about this. But Dean was right. It was the best plan they had. Piss it off themselves, before someone less prepared did so and hope it didn't catch them at a bad moment. It sucked, and especially since it involved further traumatizing Danni. "You're right. At least until I come up with a better plan. Just… uh… don't get yourself killed, alright? And can you try to take it easy on Danni?"

Dean looked at Sam, seeing how difficult it was to use this girl as… what? Bait? Or to simply try to piss her off enough to try to kill them? Dean sincerely hope he was wrong here, just because he didn't want Sam to have to deal with having picked the wrong girl again. The thing with Madison had really messed him up. "I'll do the best I can. And I'll try to keep the rest to less vicious means. These people are pretty sick. I'm almost ready to say that if Danni is killing these guys off, she might just be justified." He fired his water gun onto the white gravel. The stuff that came out was dark red and looked like-

"Dude! That's not…"

"Blood? No. Food coloring. It would freak her out though to wake up wet and covered in it."

Sam's mouth set in a grim line. "It's not her. But when this is over, I want these guys in a back alley for about fifteen minutes. This isn't right!"

Dean nodded. "IF there's any left…"

"I don't have a crush on her…" Sam said randomly. "I just…" He wasn't sure how to explain his feelings. "She is fighting all alone, and needs…"

"What? A hero? A white knight to save her from the evil co-workers?"

Sam snorted at Dean's classification of the situation. "She needs a friend."

Dean couldn't even come up with a snide remark for that. He simply nodded, and turned to walk back into the building. Suddenly he remembered something. "Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Danni to toss her water bottle, not to try to drink anymore. Open a fresh bottle and don't leave it unattended."

"Why?"

"You really don't want to know…"


	8. Sick Sons of Bitches

A/N: Sorry this has been so long, but I just got my computer back from the shop. It was two weeks of torture and withdrawal and I still have to get the last chapter's file off my partner's laptop during my next shift. So enjoy the new chapter, and please review. Please? No reviews from the last chapter nearly dealt a fatal blow to my fragile writer's ego. Yes, I'm full of over-dramatic stuff like that. Or, as my brother says, I'm full of _something,_ anyway...

Sam found Danni's water bottle in the refrigerator, an Evian bottle with a "D" written in blue sharpie on the label. It was slightly off-color, and Sam's stomach turned. _These are some sick sons of bitches…_ Sam thought, and for a moment he considered getting Dean and hitting the road. The bunch of freaks who would piss in someone's water because of an imagined slight for which they had no evidence in all likelihood deserved what they got, and Sam suddenly felt no inclination to protect them. Whatever was pissed at them probably had good reason.

As he turned away from the fridge, a picture caught his eye hanging on the wall by the entrance to the hallway. It showed what the caption proclaimed to be the first crew of LCT, when it first opened it's doors in June of 1990. Looking closely, he could just make out Stephanie standing on the end. Huh… twenty years ago, she had been kinda hot. He made a mental note to show Dean the picture, then headed back to the bunkroom.

Danni was wide awake when he walked in, staring at him with disconcertingly wide blue eyes. The gaze followed him, and made Sam feel mildly uncomfortable. Finally he turned to face her. "What?"

She stared at him for another moment. "Your brother was with them. With Jason and Melissa, for whatever they were going to do to me."

Sam winced. "Yeah. He…" He sighed and sat down on his bunk. ""Dean's a bit impulsive. He doesn't realize that this is actual hostility. He loves a good prank war more than anything else. This is the guy who put itching powder in my underwear. I don't mean when we were kids, I mean last month!"

Sam had hoped to get a smile out of that, but instead her frown darkened. "He does mean things like that to you?"

Okay, this was awkward. "I'm sorry Dean can be a jerk. I'm trying to keep him from doing anything mean."

Danni nodded, finally looking away (which was not the relief Sam thought it would be and made him feel slightly worse). "It's not your fault. I can't blame you for what your brother does. I just thought…" She paused, trailing off.

"Hey," Sam said quickly sitting beside her. "Just because Dean is being a jerk doesn't mean that we aren't going to help you. Or that I'm not your friend."

She managed a small smile but still wouldn't meet his eyes. "You guys are really close. You can tell just by watching you guys. Why would you choose my side over your brother?"

Enough was enough. Sam put his hand on her chin and forced her slate-blue eyes to meet his blue-green ones. "Because he's wrong." The simple statement hung between them for a moment, her absorbing the truth in his words, him watching to make sure she did. "They're all wrong about you."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Sam was still mightily annoyed with Dean that afternoon, after three runs for Sam and Danni and two and a PR appearance at an elementary school for Dean and Scott. But he had to talk to him and they got their moment in the bay while their partners were playing Uno and the dayshift crew was washing ambulances. "I hacked some records, he said quietly, purposefully ignoring the dark stain on Dean's shirt that he didn't want to speculate on. This time he couldn't even pretend the blood was anything but human. He never thought he would see a job more disturbing than being a hunter… "There have been thirty-five wrongful death suits against this place in twenty years."

"Is that a lot?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? It sounds like a lot, and that definitely makes for a lot of angry people."

"So now you're on board with the idea of a curse, just not my suspicion of who it is?"

"Just covering bases. I can't get an accurate count of how many people have died in connection to this place, but it seems like there has been a lot of nasty stuff around here. Long before Danni got here. I've got a list of about fifty particularly vicious deaths that could produce a vengeful spirit…well, seventy people, because that mining accident killed twenty people…"

Dean pondered that for a minute. "If they were killed in a mine, wouldn't they haunt the mine rather than the ambulance service?"

Sam shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. Too many bodies to salt and burn anyway, and there are dozens more. No way to know if we got the right one of not."

"Until someone makes your girlfriend mad…"

Sam opened his mouth to say… something… when there was a shout. A split-second later, Dean slammed into him and they both hit the ground as flames exploded from across the bay. There was a scream, then several, and for a moment, there was nothing but chaos. Sam pulled himself to his knees and peered over the hood of the ambulance in front of him, surveying the damage. Dean pulled himself up beside him. " 'The hell was that? Sammy, you okay?"

Nodding, Sam's eyes widened as he saw the flames under the hood of the ambulance in the next spot over. "Oh, man…" he whispered as his eyes fell to the charred, still burning body on the ground a few feet away from the burning truck. "Oh…"

Dean followed his eyes, putting the pieces together quicker than his shell-shocked brother. "That's- that _was_ Jason."

"Jason? The EMT that was with you this morning?"

Dean nodded, his expression grim. "I warned you about Danni's water bottle. He's the one who pissed in it, and you told her, and now…"

Scott, Danni and Stephanie came running into the bay. Scott grabbed Danni and pulled her back, trying to keep her from seeing the charred body, but it was too late. "Who is it?" She demanded, voice shaking. She saw Sam, the pale, stricken look on his face, and she ran to him. "It's not Dean, is it? Your brother's okay, right?"

Dean straightened to his feet from in front of the ambulance so she could see him. "It's Jason. He was working under the hood of the ambulance and something blew up."

Her eyes met Sam's and there was a little relief there. Not that she wanted Jason to be dead, but Sam was one of the few friends she had. The idea of him losing his brother to whatever was going on in this insane Twilight Zone mess was intolerable. Scott and Dean, meanwhile, had put out the flames, and made sure there was nothing that could be done for him. "Danni?" Scott called to her as she stood beside Sam and watched. "Can you go get us a… um…" He didn't want to say it.

"A body bag?" she said. "Sure."

Dean's face was a thundercloud of emotion all crammed into the same mold of "this happened right in front of us and we couldn't stop it", and he looked like he was going to punch someone. Sam caught his eye and motioned for him to join him. Dean whispered something to Scott and jogged to Sam's side. "Sam, I know you don't like this, but we have to do something. She's dangerous! That could have been me!" The last part had been a low blow, but he had to get through to Sam.

"Dean…"

"Sam, don't give me any of that Oprah crap! She's dangerous and she has top be stopped. I'm sorry, little brother, I know you-"

"Dean, listen to me just a second!" Sam demanded. Dean closed his mouth, and looked at Sam as if to say 'Well, get on with it!'. "Dean, I never told Danni about her water bottle. I threw it in the garbage myself and replaced it. She didn't know about that…"


	9. The Picture

A/N: A reviewer alerted me to the fact that I was overlooking a perfect opportunity. So I'm working on that. And I think things are falling into place here. Although school started this week -My first semester back in college! Yay!- I will try to keep up with my updates. Please review. Quicker reviews mean quicker chapters... :( please?

"What?" Dean asked, sure he had heard him wrong. "She didn't know?"

Sam shook his head. "I didn't want to tell her. I walked over to the gas station and replaced it. And even if I had told her, how would she know it was Jason? You didn't tell me who… you didn't even tell me what! I couldn't have told her that." He shrugged. "You're right… it could have been you just as easily. You were the one she was pissed at."

Dean looked unconvinced. "But maybe…" He paused, thinking of a legitimate argument. "Maybe she didn't fry me because of you. You saw the look on her face when she saw you and didn't see me. I guess you're her friend and she didn't want to hurt you…" Dean frowned, seeing the flaw in his own logic. "Yeah, yeah, I know. If it had been her, she would have known it wasn't me." Sam's expression was somewhere between triumphant and 'I really don't want to put too much thought into what you just said because it involves the possibility of you being extra-crispy, and you know, been there once…' _And wasn't it amazing what Dean could read from a simple expression…_ "Okay, Sam, you would have been a damn good lawyer. I guess this is what they mean by 'reasonable doubt', right?" Sam lost all the other stuff, leaving his grin looking simply triumphant. "So, she's no longer the main suspect." He raised a finger to point at Sam. "But, she is still on the suspect list. And it is still your job to keep an eye on her."

Sam nodded. "I will. I never thought it was her, but this definitely has something to do with her."

Dean nodded in agreement. "Any of the wrongful death suits involve her?"

Sam flinched, then nodded. "Yeah, three of them. Only one was actually against her though."

"Okay, you look into that. I'm going to see what I can find out from the others here. They don't like her for some reason."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever could bring you to that conclusion? The snakes in her bed? Not one but two people taking a leak in her water bottle?"

Dean's expression clearly read 'smartass', but he let it go. "What I mean is that maybe there is more to this than you know. Maybe she did something and-"

"Why does this have to be her fault?" Sam demanded. "Why can't she just be an innocent victim?"

"Yeah, like Madison was an innocent victim?"

Shit. The second it was out of Dean's mouth, e would have given anything to be able to take it back. And when the pain flashed across Sam's face, he amended that to he would cut off his own arm with a rusty butter knife to take it back. But it was too late. "Sam…" But there was no way to finish that. No 'I'm sorry' could take away the pain of having to kill the one person he had actually fallen for since Jess. There were no words. His eyes conveyed them anyway. _So sorry, bro. Didn't mean that…_

Sam nodded, tears flooding his eyes. "Yeah. Exactly like that." He turned away abruptly and headed for the bunkroom.

_Well, Winchester, you handled that like a pro…_ Dean thought to himself. The police would be here soon to ask questions, and that already made him a little uneasy, but there was no excuse for doing that to Sam. Even though he had just proven Dean's theory wrong. Especially when he had just proven Dean's theory wrong…

He wandered back into the kitchen, unsure really of what to do. No one was going to answer his questions right now. It stuck him as funny in a deeply sad and screwed up way that he and Sam were a lot more used to people dropping dead around them than the employees of an ambulance service. Not that it was ever something you got used to… The smell of burnt flesh still settled in his nostrils, making his stomach churn. That boy died because they hadn't found an answer in time. And now his best solution, his _only_ suspect, had all but been proven innocent. How long did they have before the next one died? How long until their cluelessness got someone else killed?

Maybe Sam was right… a vengeful spirit, maybe? They just didn't have enough pieces for the puzzle to fit together. He didn't want to do something else to Danni, but if it was necessary to gather information… This time he would act alone though. No one else would get hurt.

"You're brother gonna be okay?" A voice from behind him said. Dean turned around to see Scott leaning against the wall watching him. "He sounded pretty upset."

"What did you hear?" Dean asked. Geez, this guy had to be a freakin' ninja! He was everywhere with no warning.

"Not much," he admitted. "I went to check on Danni, and hear them talking. Sounded like he had been crying. Things like this, they'll mess you up." Scott looked down at the floor, and Dean felt a rush of sympathy for the older man. He had been here for almost all of them, had seen too many co-workers die.

"Sam's tough," Dean said. "He'll be okay. What about Danni?"

Scott shrugged. "She's tough, too. Sounded like she was comforting him."

Dean forced a smile, but his stomach twisted. She was comforting him because of the pain Dean had inflicted with his thoughtless words. "They seem to be getting pretty close."

Scott nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad for it. The kid hasn't made friends easily, and she really needed someone."

Dean looked him in the eye. "Someone besides you?"

Scott actually laughed at that. "I'm not even in the kid's age bracket, Dean. I'm the cool big brother that she leans on when she's taken too much to keep up her strong front. It's not much, but it's more than she's let anyone else in."

Dean smirked. "You can't be that much older than her… I mean, you're what? Thirty-two?"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. You may need glasses, but thanks." He turned to the picture hanging on the wall. "Danni wasn't even in school when I started working here."

Dean took a few steps closer to look at the picture. Six people gathered around a blue-and-white ambulance. Well, five gathered in front and one leaning against the side away from the rest of the group. Some names were written at the bottom of the page. Finding one he recognized, he glanced up at Stephanie twenty years ago. "Dude!" he exclaimed. "The boss girl was hot!"

Scott shot him an incredulous look. "That goes under the category of "Don't touch it with a ten-foot-pole and a gallon of bleach". Don't even think it!"

Dean kept looking, then settled on a tall, thin young man with short black hair. The corresponding name was "Scott Winters". "You?" he asked.

Scott nodded, a smirk on his face. "Yup. My first day, two days after my eighteenth birthday. The ink wasn't even dry on my EMT card yet." He smiled. "Things were so cool then. IT was all so new to everyone, and we were all having a blast. Good times…"

"Who's this?" Dean asked, pointed to the guy standing off to the side. He also looked young, perhaps a little older than Scott, who didn't look like he had quite hit puberty yet, with blond hair and glasses. That was when he noticed that while there were six people in the picture, there were only five names.

Scott's smile faded. "That was Adam. The best damn medic I ever knew. He was my hero."


	10. A History of Violence

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Suffering from a major lack of inspiration. Come on, guys... help me out. Give me something to go on? Anyway, please review, and sorry this is so short.

Dean noticed the ghost of old pain run across Scott's face, then disappear just as quickly. "What happened to him?" Dean asked.

"Don't know," Scott said sadly. "I guess he just took off. He couldn't handle it anymore."

"Couldn't handle it?" Dean asked. "You mean the whole medic thing? People dying and being bloody and stuff?"

Shaking his head quickly, defending his former mentor, Scott said "No, he always handled that like a pro. Like I said, he was the best. What he couldn't take was the bunch of idiots who worked here." His face clouded over with anger. "The people we worked with treated him just as badly as they treat Danni now." His voice softened some. "I see a lot of him in her. Maybe that's why I like her, why I try to protect her as much as I can."

"Because you couldn't protect Adam?" Dean asked. Scott nodded. "They did the same stuff to him that they do to her?"

He nodded. "And worse, too. Things they couldn't get away with to Danni, sexual harassment and all. His initiation was brutal, by far the worst I've seen. He was actually bleeding by the time they were done… No one has ever actually gotten hurt before."

"Uh… initiation?" Dean asked, instantly alert. "As in weird guys with paddles?" No way was he saying 'Please, sir, may I have another?'

Scott grinned a little as he shook his head. "I forgot, you and your brother haven't been through that yet… Don't tell anyone I told you about it. I would tell you not to warn Sam, but I know better. It's nothing major, I promise. Usually they just duct tape you to a backboard like a trauma patient and torment you some. You know, spray you down with the water hose, stick you in the back of someone's truck and leave you there for an hour or so, tickle you until you piss yourself. Basically harmless fun. No one gets hurt, and we've all been through it."

"No one gets hurt? But Adam was bleeding?"

Scott frowned, not happy at the memories. "They were rough on Adam. Really mean."

"Like?" Dean prompted, trying to hide his impatience.

"Well, they took his shirt, for one."

"They pinned him down with duct tape on his bare skin?" Dean winced. Ouch…

Scott nodded. "And used way more than necessary. Tore him all to hell. Then tried to act like they didn't mean to do it, like they were sorry. Until he was out of the room. Then they laughed like it was the best joke in the world." Scott ground his teeth in an effort to shove back some of the anger he had fought for years. Dean could understand. A mentor suddenly disappearing really sucked. Assuming he ran off voluntarily made it worse.

Dean shook his head. "Dude…" That was just wrong. He wondered what Sam would do if someone did something like that to Danni. Then he realized he _really_ didn't want to know. "That just…"

"Sucks." Scott supplied for him. "Yeah. I was just a kid then, I didn't know what to say or do to help Adam. But I'm older now and I can do what I can to help Danni."

"You've stood up for her?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. A lot." It was clear from the sound of his voice that had involved more than just a few stern words. Dean wasn't sure if he should ask, or if that would be pushing it. Before he could, Scott tapped an inch-long scar down the side of his face. "This place is just evil," he concluded.

Dean's eyes widened. Not often someone made it that easy for him. "Evil how?"

Scott shrugged. "I don't know. Just evil. This is a redneck town and I guess it's just the typical redneck attitude towards people who are a little different. But this seems to go above and beyond."

Dean mentally processed it. "The same people, twenty years later?"

Scott shrugged. "Most of them. Stephanie. Darrell. Alan. Michael. Me. The first class, except Adam, is still here. Well, Darrell and Michael and Alan are…"

He couldn't seem to make himself say it, so Dean said it for him. "Gone? Scott, are Michael and Alan were the other ones killed?"

"Yeah."

"What about Jason?"

Scott shook his head. "He's only been here about 18 years. He got here right before Adam left."

Wheels turned in Dean's mind. "So you and Stephanie are the only ones left?"

With a shrug, Scott said "And Adam, wherever he is now."

Scott looked like this trip down Memory-Lane-from-Hell had pretty much wiped him out, and Dean had other things to deal with now. And an apology to give. "Uh… you gonna be okay? I gotta go…"

"Check on your brother? Yeah, go on. Make sure Danni is okay too, will ya?"

Dean nodded, then hurried out of the room. He was at Danni's bunkroom door in just a few seconds and slammed open the door without knocking. "Sam? Listen, I'm sorry about what I said. We gotta talk, and I think you might be- Oh, holy crap!"

He stopped and jumped back abruptly when he saw Sam kissing Danni, her hands up his shirt. Sam pulled back, and run his hand through his hair to smooth it, face turning red. "Uh, Dean? Don't you knock?"


	11. Allies

A/N: Yay! new chapter! I was so excited, the last chapter got more reviews than the last four put together! Can we do it again? Please?

The brothers stared at each other for a moment, neither sure how to react. Finally, Dean spoke. "Wow. This usually happens the other way around. Congrats, bro. Wish I could just leave you to it, but we need to talk."

Danni slid her hands down Sam's chest and out of his shirt, then smoothed her own shirt down. "Um, I'll just leave you two to… talk…" She started to squeeze past Dean and out the door, but he put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Stick around. We might need you."

Sam's head jerked up. "Dean-"

Dean shook his head. "Sam, you were right. She's not the one doing this."

Danni's face went instantly red. "You thought I was the one doing this?" She demanded. The girl was taller than most, and while Sam still dwarfed her, she did a pretty good job of getting right in Dean's face. "You thought I was killing people, my co-workers and friends?"

Dean's mouth tightened. "I kinda figured Sammy would have told you that you were my top suspect, since he got all confessional about everything else. And while they may be your co-workers, I would hardly call them friends. You ever see the movie _Carrie_?"

Sam watched her carefully for a few seconds, waiting for the inevitable explosion. Dean was tensed, ready to defend himself. Neither was expecting her to burst out laughing. When she stopped laughing, she looked at a very surprised Dean and said, "You're pretty smart. You're also the south end of a northbound mule, but you're smart."

Sam snorted a laugh at that, and Dean addressed him. "Did she just call me an ass's ass?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, Dude, I think she did." Then he processed the rest of the statement. "Wait, do you mean…?"

Danni gave him a look that clearly read, "Are you an idiot?" "Of course I'm not doing it, Sam. I said he was smart, not right. I should be the first suspect. And if I had Carrie-powers, I would totally mess with these guys. I would levitate them around and flush all the toilets while they were in the shower. I make it rain frogs on them or something. I would _not _kill them. I mean, that's kinda excessive for some pranks. Admittedly vicious pranks, but still not worthy of a death sentence. And do you make a habit of making out with possible suspects? Doesn't seem very healthy…"

Dean couldn't help but laugh. "He does have a habit of doing that, yeah. One of his more annoying traits. Right after leaving the toilet seat up…"

Danni shot him an annoyed glance and he realized all was not forgiven. "So, did you have something to tell us, or you just object to your brother getting laid?"

Sam looked at her, surprised. "You were…" Unsure how to finish that thought, he trailed off and looked back to Dean. "Uh, yeah. You said we needed to talk?"

Dean shook his head to clear the images. "Yeah. Danni, what do you know about a guy named Adam? Used to be a medic here. A little before your time, but-"

Danni cut him off with a nod. "Adam Messer? Scott's friend?"

Pleasantly surprised, smiled. "Uh, yeah. I didn't have a last name, but Scott's friend. Scott said he had a hard time here, like you."

Danni sat on her bed, Dean sat on Sam's, facing each other. Sam looked between the two for a moment, not sure where to sit before Dean reached up, eyes still on Danni, and gave Sam a healthy shove. He landed roughly on the bed beside Danni, and was straightening himself when he noticed the similar smirks on their faces. "Yeah, sure," he muttered. "Take his side!"

He straightened, and Danni patted his shoulder in a comforting manner before focusing on Dean's statement. "Yeah, I guess they were real dicks to him. Worse than I got. To hear Scott talk about it, it's lucky he got out when he did."

"Why's that?" asked Sam, pieces clicking into place. He saw where Dean was going with this.

"Well, from what I hear, if he had stuck around much longer, he might have gotten hurt real bad." Danni shrugged. "You guys gotta realize, I was in kindergarten when Adam took off. You should talk to Scott about this."

Dean put on a wince. "Well, I asked him about it, but it seemed like it really kinda messed him up to talk about it. I let it drop, didn't want to put him through that, ya know?"

Danni nodded. "Yeah, Scott adored Adam. He was kinda like the big brother Scott never had. He talks about him a lot, but he won't talk about him leaving. I guess he just didn't show up for work one day. Can't say I blame him. I've thought about it a bunch of times."

"Danni?" Sam asked. "Why do you stay here? Why don't you leave? There have to be a million paramedic jobs around."

She smiled, a twisted smirk Dean had seen in the mirror one too many times for comfort. "Because." She said simply. "Because these guys are nothing but bullies, and they got what they wanted with Adam when he left. I'm not about to let them get their way again! They want rid of me they're gonna have to kill me. I'm a little stubborn that- What is it? What did I say?"

Sam must have visibly flinched, he realized. "Sorry, I just… didn't like that image."

Danni shook her head. "It's more than that. You don't think Adam just ran off, do you?"

"No," said Dean, sparing Sam having to tell her. "We don't."

"You think they… Stephanie and Darrell and the rest of them_ killed_ him?"

She looked so freaked out by this idea that Sam scooted closer and put his arm around her. He looked at Dean, begging him with his eyes to help with damage control. Damn puppy-dog eyes… "We don't know anything for sure, kid. We'll look into things."

Danni looked up at Sam. "So… what am I supposed to be afraid of? My homicidal co-workers, or the ghost that seems to be killing them? Which one is going to get me first? And which one should I prefer get me first?" Her voice was strong, solid, and not at all shaky. She was pale, but generally holding up well.

Dean returned Sam's request for damage control with a similar one. _Sorry, bro. take care of this, 'kay?_ Sam sighed, and with a hand to her face, held Danni's gaze on him. "Neither one is going to get you, Danni. That's why Dean and I are here. We're gonna protect you, but you have to trust us, okay?"

She met his eyes for several long moments. Finally, she whispered, I trust _you_."

It was clear that it was not a plural 'you' encompassing both Winchester Brothers, she was offering her trust only to Sam. And honestly, Dean didn't blame her. As far as she was concerned, he had joined forces with the ones who may well be out to kill her and had recently done something to hurt one of her only two friends. He didn't deserve her trust, not after the water-gun incident. But they would protect her, because while even Dean could admit he was an ass a good deal of the time, he did not fail on his hunts. And he would not fail this girl. "Danni, I-"

He was cut off as a shrill blast came from the radio, followed by a voice. Sam still couldn't understand the horrible reception or the codes, so he looked to Danni for translation. She jumped to her feet, slipping on her boots as she did. "C'mon. We got a run. Been a fight, sounds like a bad one…" She hurried out, Sam shrugged to Dean and followed her.

Dean watched them go, then reached for Sam's laptop. "It's okay, guys, I can do the research myself. Really. I don't mind a bit…"


	12. The Break in the Case

A/N: Sorry to disappear for so long, I just couldn't get what I was doing with this. Please share any input you have, because I could use the help, lol. Even if you don't have input/advice/whatever, drop me a review, let me know you're reading it. Thanks!:)

It was over an hour before the bunkroom door burst open and Sam and Danni trailed back in. The left side of Danni's face was swelling and red, Sam had a blackening eye and dried blood under his nose. Spots of blood on his t-shirt were splatter in such a way it obviously didn't all come from his bloody nose. Dean's eyes widened, startled, as he glanced over them for further injuries in a manner he often used with Sam post-hunt. " 'the Hell happened to you two?"

Sam gave him a weak half-smirk, and Danni said "There was a fight."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Knew that, I was here when you got called out, remember?"

She rolled her eyes in a way that would have made 14-year-old Sam proud. "There was that fight. Then they called the ambulance. Then the guys who beat the patient up didn't want us fixing him. So then there was the other fight." She grinned, barely hiding the wince moving her face caused. "I thought I was in serious trouble when two of them got me, but Sam took care of his three and came back for me. A real white knight!"

Dean snorted at that. Then did some math. "Wait, you two got jumped by five guys?"

Sam shrugged. "It was a good workout."

Dean chuckled. "You guys okay?" Sam again raised a shoulder in a partial shrug that Dean read perfectly. _Dude, you know I've had worse than this from you!_ "Danni?"

"I'll live," she said. "Actually, this happens fairly regularly. None of us have had the crap beat out of us this month yet, so I guess it was due. Just sorry it was Sam. The rest of us are kinda used to it."

Sam put his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. I'm kinda used to it, too. Got a bit of a rough job, too, you know?"

She looked up at him and he could tell from the look on her face that she didn't like the idea of anyone –_anything_- hurting him. Dean caught it too, and thought this would be a wonderful time to share what he had found.

"Well," he said, "while you two were off playing Walker, Texas Ranger, I found something rather interesting."

"Good news?" Danni asked hopefully.

"Um," Dean stared at his computer screen, trying to figure out how to answer that one. "Well, I guess that would depend on how you define 'good'. I found what we need to know to proceed, but I wouldn't call it 'good news'. And I certainly don't want to be the one to tell Scott."

That got Danni's attention. "Adam's dead, isn't he?"

Dean nodded. "It kinda looks that way. There is no record of his EMT license ever being used again, and it expired in '93. His driver's license expired that same year and was never renewed. Either he completely changed his name and went under the radar… which seems kinda like overkill for some trouble with his co-workers…"

"Or he's dead," Danni finished.

"Yeah. Kinda what I'm thinking."

Danni made a face at him. "Do we have to tell Scott? This will devastate him. The only way he got over it at all was thinking that he was off somewhere safe and happy and far away from these crazies." Then her eyes widened. "But that's crazy! How could a person just die and no one even know? If he walked away willingly it would be one thing, but if he just disappeared, why did no one ask questions or anything. Scott told me that the cops never showed up or anything so he just figured he wasn't coming back."

"Yeah, well, he isn't coming back, that's for sure."

Danni glared. "Are you always this much of an ass?"

Dean pretended to consider it. "Yeah, pretty much."

With a growl, Danni was back in Dean's face. "I don't care what you do with your life, but around here, the first thing you learn is that when human life becomes expendable, it's time to get out. You may be talking about just another 'case' to you, but the dead man in question means a lot to my only friend here!"

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Well, sweetheart, in our world, the first thing you learn is that everybody dies. You deal with it, you move on, you don't let it in. Because if it does, you're done. And by done, I don't mean burned out, I mean dead. So you can do your bleeding heart thing, but don't you dare judge me or my brother because we never cried when Old Yeller died, you got it?"

"I never said anything about Sam," Danni said in a perfectly level voice. "And if you think he is the same cold-blooded snake that you are, I'm not the one seeing what they want to see!" Small hands tightened into fists, and Sam decided to intervene before Dean had to take a punch that he wouldn't return.

He put himself between them. "Hey, guys, calm down. It's okay. Danni, we have just seen a lot of things that you will hopefully never see. From the time we were really little. I'm sorry if it seems harsh to you, but it's the way we were raised. Listen, we gotta work together here. Whatever problems you have with Dean, he really is on our side and we can't do this without him. Just let it go, please?" He put on his most pitiful expression, knowing it was a cheap shot and using it for all it was worth. "Please, for me?" Soft hazel puppy-dog eyes met her blue ones, and he watched as the ice chips in hers melted slowly.

She nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry, Dean. It's just that Scott has been the only friend I've got here for a long time, and this is going to hurt him a lot. If something is going to hurt Sam, doesn't that make you kinda pissy?"

It made him a hell of a lot more than 'kinda pissy', but he saw where the girl was coming from and accepted the metaphorical olive branch. "Yeah, I get it. And I really didn't mean…" he trailed off, knowing that he did mean it, unable to lie to the girl, and she seemed to get that and left it alone.

Sam sighed inwardly with relief. The impending confrontation temporarily defused, he changed back to the subject at hand. "So did no one actually look into Adam's disappearance? No police inquiry or anything?"

Dean typed a few minutes on the keyboard, cursed under his breath, and Sam took the laptop from him. "I was using that!" he exclaimed indignantly.

Sam smirked. "No, Dean, you were _trying_ to use it. I'm _using_ it." A few more deft keystrokes, and he set the computer down on the table.

"Um… just how illegal is whatever you're doing?" Danni asked.

"What he's doing is the least of our legal worries," Dean commented, and Danni ignored him.

"Got it," said Sam. "No police files on Adam Messer. He was never married, had no siblings, both parents killed in a car crash when he was 17. Looks like there was no one around to look for him."

"Or to notice he was gone…" Danni's lips formed a tight line. "No one to notice if he didn't make it home from work one day. Like me…"


End file.
